Doctors and Torture by Wanda Teays

Author:Wanda Teays
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030225179
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

5.20 What Are the Consequences of Such Strategies?

In setting down such restrictions, Bybee effectively narrowed the domain of what counts as torture, so only the most egregious acts would qualify. Given the stakes are high with regard to human rights, it should not be surprising that Bybee would be averse to having the term “degrading treatment” applied to an action sanctioned on the part of the government.

Bybee recommended an interpretation of torture emphasizing the intention of the interrogator. An individual could only be said to commit torture if they intended to do so. “Thus any interrogator who tortured but later claimed that his intention was to gain information rather than inflict pain was not guilty of torture” (Wisnewski and Emerick, 114–115). That means someone could only be thought guilty of torture if they sought to harm or maim the other. Therefore, “Threatening death and inflicting pain would be actionable only when the interrogator intended to harm” (Dayan 2007, 68–69). This puts intentions—not actions—at center stage.

Think about this interpretation. Redefining the term shrinks its range of applicability, or so it is claimed. Wisnewski and Emerick note the consequences:This new interpretation of torture removes so much moral substance from the term … [so only] the category of “dehumanizing, torture“ would remain … As a result, the Geneva Conventions were interpreted less and less broadly, and thus their power to guide interrogations was weakened (2009, 114-15).

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